Brian Cox disqualified for 3-1/2 years

The racing career of Brian Cox appears to be over with the Wodonga trainer handed a 3-1/2 year disqualification relating to the use of steroids in his stable.

Cox was last week found guilty on eight of 13 charges laid against him by Racing Victoria stewards with the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board handing down the sentence on Tuesday.

Cox's veterinary surgeon Robert Fielding was fined and reprimanded after being found guilty of three charges.

The charges arose after a race day inspection of Cox's stable in March when stewards found two containers labelled Ulcerguard in the trainer's fridge.

After analysis, the contents of one of the containers was found to be Nitrotain, a product on the banned list for horses.

The Racing Appeals And Disciplinary Board found Cox guilty of four breaches under AR178H relating to the administration of an anabolic androgenic steroid.

The RAD Board said in their decision for handing down a three-year disqualification for charges relating to AR178H that Cox had no pleaded guilty and any stage and that his attitude in relation to the charges had been far from cooperative.

A 12-month term to be served concurrently was given for possession of Nitrotain.Cox received a further six-month disqualification after pleading guilty to two charges relating to the manhandling of stewards.

Cox physically manhandled steward Dion Villella during an inspection in an attempt to remove the prohibited substance from Villella and also forcibly pushed fellow steward Rhys Melville.

He was also found guilty of providing misleading evidence to stewards by putting forward several different scenarios including that he did not know how it got there; the container could have been planted; that it was an oversight it was in the fridge.

The RAD Board said the inaccuracies and falsehoods by Cox had been quite blatant and handed down a three-month disqualification for the charge to be served concurrently.